An even more experimental follow-up to 2018’s Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic, the upcoming full-length from German metal ensemble The Ocean is set to complete a sprawling palaeontology-centred concept album when it drops on 25th September. Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic|Cenozoic is a unique, progressive recording showcasing the band’s talent, making it abundantly clear that their musical influences are diverse and eclectic. So to find out the inspirations behind this epic LP, guitarist and founder Robin Staps has put together a playlist of songs he was listening to whilst writing Phanerozoic II, which you can now hear in full on the Astral Noize Spotify. Check out the band’s expansive new single ‘Jurassic|Cretaceous’ below, and scroll on for the playlist itself.
Introducing the playlist, Staps explains: “This playlist is going through some of the stuff I was listening to when I was writing Phanerozoic II. Most of the tracks on that record were written over the course of two summers, 2016 and 2017, so some tracks have that time stamp – others were from albums of bands I was working with around that time and became obsessed with (such as Briqueville and Spook The Horses), and yet others were released earlier and just happened to slide into my life during that time. We recorded drums for both Phanerozoic albums in early 2018 and all the tracks were about 80% finished by then. I guess you won’t hear too much metal in this playlist, but I was generally listening to mostly quieter music those days.”
Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic | Cenozoic is out 25th September on Metal Blade Records/Pelagic Records. Order here.
Words: George Parr
